


Just before the endgame

by lomku



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Hurt Tony, POV Thanos, POV Tony Stark, this is a retelling of the final fight on Titan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 15:41:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18524539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lomku/pseuds/lomku
Summary: A re-writing of the final battle between Tony Stark and Thanos, and their thoughts during the fight.





	Just before the endgame

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> This is something I did because I couldn't stop thinking about this scene.   
> The lines in the text indicate a POV change.  
> This is also my first work ever, so please comment!  
> Enjoy :)

 

Pain. So much pain. Excruciating. Knife-sharp in his side, pulsing. He could feel the blood flow out of his side, every heartbeat sending a fresh wave of agony through his body. How ironic. He was being killed by his own suit.

 

* * *

 

 

**_Two minutes earlier_ **

Doctor Strange was unconscious on the ground. The guardians and the insect boy nowhere in sight, Thanos walked slowly towards the downed sorcerer. He could finally take the time stone, and travel to Earth to finish his mission.

But he had forgotten about the last one. Suddenly, he was unable to close his gauntleted hand. Stark appeared seemingly out of nowhere, looking as defiant as ever, even after getting bombarded by a moon. He was truly an outstanding human.

“You throw another moon at me, and I’m gonna lose it.”

This human really did not know when to stop. Thanos guessed it was commendable. He greeted his opponent by name. It was the least he could do.

“Stark.”

That seemed to surprise the human.

“You know me?”

Of course he did. When the Chitauri fleet sent to Earth was destroyed, he made sure to know who had done so much damage to one of his main armies. At the time, he had wondered how he could have so grossly misjudged the defensive capacity of that small planet. But when his underlings told him about the man who singlehandedly defeated the Chitauri, he understood the man was an exception to his kind. Tony Stark, or Iron Man, was certainly the only human from his planet who would prove to be a worthy opponent. Thanos could appreciate the twisted poetry: as he had been in Stark’s mind, Stark had occupied his thoughts. All these years had led to this single moment. He replied:

“I do. You’re not the only one cursed by knowledge.”

“My only curse is you.”

The same could not be said for Thanos. He was cursed by knowledge, but also by his purpose. His sacrifice would forever haunt him, even if he knew that it had been the necessary thing to do. He couldn’t lose sight of his mission. _I’m sorry, Gamora._

Iron man started the fight by shooting missiles at him. He would need to do better if he wanted to win this battle against Thanos.

“Come onnn!”

With those thoughts, Thanos started fighting the man that stood between him and victory.

 

 

* * *

 

Thanos knowing Tony’s name had thrown him for a loop. If the mad titan knew his name, what else did he know? Had he kept tabs on his abilities, his friends, his suits?

If that was the case, this fight would be over before it had even begun. Tony had never encountered Thanos before, did not even know his name before Bruce told him. The titan had always been a looming presence in the back of his head, a vague sense of dread when looking up at the night sky, a terrible shadow announcing a dire future. He knew next to nothing about the titan, but Thanos knew who he was. Tony was at a disadvantage here.

He hoped Strange would regain consciousness soon and help him. Honestly, Tony knew he was outmatched. Even with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter, and Strange, they had been unable to contain Thanos. Now he was the last man standing. He resolved to make a hell of a show.

 

Tony had put a lot of effort in his suit. The Mark L was at the pinnacle of technology, rivalling the ingenuity of the black panther suits. Tony had decided to use nanotechnology to be able to activate the suit in a few seconds ( 4,2 femtoseconds, actually, but he had decided to show off a little bit in New York – to gauge Squidward’s reaction and impress the wizards) and to be able to modify the suit to his needs during battle. He had put implants in his brain to be able to control the suit with his thoughts. The result was a masterpiece, if he said so himself. He was particularly proud of the fact that he could redirect nanites from unused areas to repair damaged parts of his armour. The fact that he wasn’t invincible had been painfully clear to him during the events of the Civil War, certainly after the showdown in Siberia. With his new suit, he was confident that he would be able to withstand much greater forces, and deal far more deadly blows, than ever before.

 

But he had never fought a nearly indestructible alien before, let alone one wielding four infinity stones. The power imbalance seemed so great that he would have laughed, was he not fighting for his life.

He dealt blow after blow, each of a force big enough to level a building, but to no avail. It didn’t even phase Thanos. The titan ripped off his helmet, making his head vulnerable. Thankfully, his new suit reformed his helmet almost instantly, just in time to block a second punch from the titan. The punch was enough to send him sprawling to the ground, scratching desperately at the dirt to regain his bearings.

 

 

* * *

 

The Iron Man was attacking him relentlessly. Thanos was impressed by the imagination of the man. He was trying a different approach every time. The man kept going, opting on close combat instead of long-range attacks. It was a sound strategy.

Thanos punched Stark hard enough to send him flying to the ground. He used the reprieve to free the gauntlet. He decided to use the power stone; if Stark was as good as he prided himself to be, the human would not die.

The titan was pleasantly surprised when Stark did not only survive the power stone beam, but was able to block it with a shield from his armour. The human did not pause for a second and started attacking again.

The armour’s feet merged into a heavy mass and collided painfully across his cheekbone, forcing him to one knee. Thanos reached up to his face and was bemused to see blood on his fingers. He had not bled for several centuries, not when fighting against countless armies. But now a lone fighter had managed to realise the seemingly impossible feat. Was it a sign of Thanos losing his edge, or should it be seen as a prowess from Stark?

However, even if Stark had made him bleed, it was but a flesh wound. More symbolic than anything else, really. He decided to taunt the human:

“All that for a drop of blood.”

It was time to end the fight. After all, his mission awaited.

Without his suit, Stark was very vulnerable. Thanos only needed to destroy the suit. He knocked the man to the ground and hit him in the face. He punched the man again and again, until Iron Man was helpless on the ground.

 

 

* * *

 

Each punch felt like a freight train was ramming into his head. Even with the helmet still on, his head rocked back from the punches. Without helmet, he’d be dead. Each blow destroyed his suit a little further, nanites ripped from his body by Thanos’ hands. He could feel numerous wounds opening up on his face, his arms, his hands, from trying to block the punches. It reminded him too much of the last minutes of the fight in Siberia. He could not loose like that again. This time, there was more at stake than his hurt feelings, more at stake than the Accords. He was very aware that the fate of the universe could lie in this fight. Of course, the Avengers (or whatever they were called now) where still on Earth, hopefully to protect Vision and the soul stone. But Tony knew that they would be no match for the titan, especially if Thanos managed to get the time stone. If Thor was there, maybe they would have a chance, but nothing was certain.

Tony wondered if it would have made a difference if he had called Rogers.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Maybe it didn’t matter.

He was seeing stars, and knew that he would be unconscious soon. Thanos lifted him by his neck and punched him in the gut with the power stone. All his breath was punched out of him. He could only grunt painfully and crash into the ground several meters away.

Getting up on one knee, he used all his remaining nanites to shoot a repulsor beam at the titan. Of course, Thanos deflected it just as easily as before, advancing steadily towards Tony. Tony tried to use both hands, but the power stone absorbed the energy. When Thanos came close enough, he ripped off Tony’s helmet again. This time, his head stayed unprotected. He had not enough nanites left. He blocked another punch to his head with both his forearms, clenching his teeth from the force of it. He tried to fight back, but his punch was easily caught. In a last desperate attempt, he formed a blade in his free hand and thrust forward.

Thanos, in the blink of an eye, caught the blade, ripped it from his hand, and impaled Tony with it.

The force of it had Tony doubling over. Thanos, still holding the blade, forced Tony to stay standing, while all he wanted to do was curl up on the ground and drown in the pain.

Pain.

 _So much_ _pain_. Excruciating. Knife-sharp in his side, pulsing. He could feel the blood flow out of his side, every heartbeat sending a fresh wave of agony through his body. It hurt too much to even scream.

                                 

He looked up at Thanos, seeing grim determination in his opponent’s face. They both knew the fight was over, and that Tony had lost.

He couldn’t speak, his breath coming out in short gasps. He tried to find purchase, grabbing Thanos’ arm, trying to make him let go. But the titan did not.

He was forced to walk backwards, staggering step after step, when Thanos advanced. Each step was agony, the blade being forced a little bit deeper every time.

Soon, the adrenaline coursing his veins disappeared. His body was shutting down, recognizing defeat. He lost his grip on Thanos’ arm, letting his arms fall limply to his sides.

Thanos sat him down, and finally, _finally_ stopped pushing the blade forward. He cradled Tony’s head, and in this moment, the human was intimately aware of how fragile he was. The gesture was also disturbingly patronizing, as if Tony was a child that had thrown a tantrum and needed admonishing. It was almost loving, and wasn’t that disturbing?

If Thanos wanted to, he could crush his skull between his fingers. He was entirely at the mercy of the titan. That realisation chilled him to the bones: he was afraid, terrified of Thanos. Fear paralysed him under the hand of the titan.

Tony looked up, trying to understand what Thanos would do next. He wanted to say something, to break this agonizing anticipation. The silence was oppressing. The only sounds were Thanos’ calm breathing and his own, ragged and uneven.

Thanos spoke to him:

“You have my respects, Stark. When I’m done, half of humanity will still be alive. I hope they’ll remember you.”

What was he supposed to respond to that? He couldn’t even muster the energy to say something half-hearted about Thanos losing against their forces. Everything pointed to say that Thanos would, in fact, win.

The pain was a dull roar now, all-encompassing and absolute.

Thanos stepped back, the stones lighting up in the gauntlet.

Tony coughed up some blood, watching it dribble slowly to the ground. Internal bleeding. Without medical help, it was a matter of hours before he died. Not that it made a difference now. He would be dead in a few seconds anyways.

He watched the stones light up with a strange fascination. Their glow was mesmerizing, drawing him in.  

He wondered dimly if it would hurt.

Would his life flash before his eyes?

After escaping death by a hair’s breadth on so many occasions, was this his last moment?

Alone on a dead planet, killed by a psychopath on his way to annihilating half the universe?

Away from his friends. Happy, Rhodey.

Away from his kids. DUM-E, U, Butterfingers, FRIDAY….

Away from his love. Pepper.

_I hope I didn’t waste my life, Yinsen._

 

 

* * *

Stark was watching him, acceptance and fear on his face. The man was brave even in his last moments. Thanos raised the gauntlet, ready to fire, when someone called out:

“Stop!”

It was the sorcerer, who was sitting up, looking worse for wear.

“Spare his life, and I will give you the stone.”

That was unexpected, to say the least. Why would the sorcerer do that? Was it out of sentiment? Out of heroism? Or was it more pragmatic, trying to get the best deal out of a situation the sorcerer knew was lost?

Whatever the cause, if it meant that he could get the stone without having to fight, he would accept the bargain. Keeping his hand aimed at Stark, he answered.

“No tricks.”

The sorcerer shook his head tiredly at that. He was barely conscious, clearly in no shape to attempt anything, and they both knew it.

 

“Don’t!”

Stark tried to dissuade the other human. He sounded desperate, was even shaking his head when words failed him. But the deal had been made, and the sorcerer was not backing down on his decision. Thanos turned the gauntlet towards the sorcerer, waiting.

When he had the stone, he glanced at Stark. The human was watching him helplessly, not able to do anything in his weakened state. Thanos wondered if he would survive despite his wounds.

Slotting the time stone in place gave him a rush of power. He was so close.

“One to go.”

He teleported to the soul stone’s location just as Quill flew at him, shouting and shooting.

 

 

* * *

 

Quill fell on the spot that Thanos had occupied a few moments prior. The titan was gone, most likely to Earth, to collect the last stone.

Star-Lord looked around, confusion and hurt marring his features.

“Where is he? ………… Did we just loose?”

Yes, they did.

They had failed.

For all his talk of taking the fight to Thanos, it had been for naught. The titan was on Earth now.

Tony sealed the wound in his side with a nanite spray. He would not bleed out. But what a poor consolation! He had fought with all his might, with the best suit he had ever built, and he had lost. Six years of anxiety, panic attacks and feverish nights for this. God, he had a fucking hole in his side! He was useless. He couldn’t stop Thanos, and he was the direct reason the titan had the time stone. If only he had fought better. If only he had died before Strange regained consciousness.

Why had Strange saved his life?

Strange, who a few hours prior, had warned him that he would not hesitate to let the spiderling and him die rather than give up the stone. And now, he had done the exact opposite!

What did he possibly hope to accomplish? Tony wasn’t in state to stand, much less fight. Strange knew it, he _knew it_ , but he had refused him his death, nevertheless. Why didn’t he let Tony die? Did he think Tony had one last trick up his sleeve? Tony had nothing. His suit was destroyed, he was on the verge of collapsing from the pain, and he had no ideas left. Nothing. He was empty.

God fucking dammit, why did the stupid wizard _do_ that?

Had Strange given up?

Had he decided to be hopelessly heroic?

It didn’t make any _sense_.

The whole point of the battle had been to protect the stone, so why had Strange given it to Thanos?

It assured Thanos of his eventual victory. With five stones, he was damn near invincible.

Why.

Why?

_Why?_

 “Why would you do that?”

Strange only looked at him, weariness on his face. He gave nothing away, no explanation for his action. Only the cryptic words:

“We’re in the endgame now.”


End file.
